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What makes a $20,000 cd player cost 20,000?

Hi,
Listened to a Linn Sondeck CD12 (sp?) a few years back and the thing amazed me.
Was expecting that digital player development would continue to progress and that this level of performance would become available in the 2-5,000 range. It appears to me that redbook cd player development has stagnated, so I wanted to run a couple questions by for a sanity check.
1. Is there anything in the design or manufacture of top notch cd players that neccessarily results in stratospheric production costs?
2. Has anything come out in the last two or three years that really struck you as raising the bar in the price to performace ratio?
Happy listening.
jeff_jones

Showing 1 response by sdatch

sdatch
204 posts
 
A cost no object design - typically meaning a grossly over-spec'ed power supply, herculean efforts at jitter reduction, and the best available parts regardless of price in the analog output stage. Throw in a really pompous audio jewelry facade, plus the lack of abaility to take advantage of economies of scale, and the pirce to manufacture these devices skyrockets. That being said, I can honestly say that my enjoyment of redbook cds has never been better than with my current Simaudio Moon Eclipse, which retails for about $6k, and employs all of the tactics I listed above - I'm glad it comes in well under $20k!

Regards,
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